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The Pull
TKO Studios presents "The Pull" from superstar creators Steve Orlando (Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter) and Ricardo López Ortiz (Deadpool, Colombia)
Stu Manning always wanted to be a cop. But a terrible incident on his first beat has left him dishonored, dismayed, and barely clinging to sanity. Years later Stu prowls the streets again, not as a cop, but a scruffy private detective with one hell of a trick up his sleeve...and a monster under his skin. But when the city he always wanted to protect claims the one person who helped him survive it this far, Stu is prepared to unleash the beast he's kept inside and embark on his own road to revenge...and he gets the feeling that two graves will not be nearly enough. A supernatural hardboiled crime thriller for the 21st century.
Stu Manning always wanted to be a cop. But a terrible incident on his first beat has left him dishonored, dismayed, and barely clinging to sanity. Years later Stu prowls the streets again, not as a cop, but a scruffy private detective with one hell of a trick up his sleeve...and a monster under his skin. But when the city he always wanted to protect claims the one person who helped him survive it this far, Stu is prepared to unleash the beast he's kept inside and embark on his own road to revenge...and he gets the feeling that two graves will not be nearly enough. A supernatural hardboiled crime thriller for the 21st century.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 17, 2020
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375 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 6, 2023
Reading The Pull, I started thinking about the role of dialogue in comics. How much do you need to tell the story? Is it possible to have too much dialogue? The amount of dialogue has a visual effect on the page; when does the effect tip over into drowning out the imagery?
There is a lot of dialogue in The Pull. Almost every page is covered in dialogue. And none of it is funny, none of it is very interesting. In fact, most of it is outright boring.
There's some involved story about a planet that is coming to eat Earth. And maybe it can be stopped. And there's a lot of fighting - this doesn't stop the unending flow of dialogue, btw. There is no respite. It all ends in a way that I think is supposed to be profound and emotional, but for that to happen, I'd have to care about any of the characters, which I sadly did not.
And then there's the art, consisting of manga-ish stretched faces and manic fight scenes. It's not for me.
If you want to read about a planetoid coming to eat our planet, I'd rather direct you to Junji Ito's Remina .
(Received an ARC through Edelweiss)
There is a lot of dialogue in The Pull. Almost every page is covered in dialogue. And none of it is funny, none of it is very interesting. In fact, most of it is outright boring.
There's some involved story about a planet that is coming to eat Earth. And maybe it can be stopped. And there's a lot of fighting - this doesn't stop the unending flow of dialogue, btw. There is no respite. It all ends in a way that I think is supposed to be profound and emotional, but for that to happen, I'd have to care about any of the characters, which I sadly did not.
And then there's the art, consisting of manga-ish stretched faces and manic fight scenes. It's not for me.
If you want to read about a planetoid coming to eat our planet, I'd rather direct you to Junji Ito's Remina .
(Received an ARC through Edelweiss)
January 30, 2021
(2,5 of 5 for Dragonball-ZzzzZzzzZzzz)
I'm a sucker at giving TKO a chance even if most of the titles are not even miss, they're terrible. Well and this wasn't hit either. I love sci-fi or futuristic series, but most authors usually go overboard in some direction and it ends usually bad. This is not the case. This case is even worse. The idea is interesting, but its main issue is that the author just can't the tale. This is action superpower sci-fi and it's surprisingly most of the time boring. Do you know how some comics can combine the best of comics and manga? Do you wonder where the other half goes? Some would say they ended in the trash, but The Pull looks just like someone took the wrong halves from the trash and whoa, The Pull appeared. There is too much narrative or dialogues/monologues, in wrong places and usually weakly written. I had a hard time to finish this comic because just a few pages made me asleep. So again - good idea but poorly executed with decent art which isn't helpful at all. My suggestion: avoid.
I'm a sucker at giving TKO a chance even if most of the titles are not even miss, they're terrible. Well and this wasn't hit either. I love sci-fi or futuristic series, but most authors usually go overboard in some direction and it ends usually bad. This is not the case. This case is even worse. The idea is interesting, but its main issue is that the author just can't the tale. This is action superpower sci-fi and it's surprisingly most of the time boring. Do you know how some comics can combine the best of comics and manga? Do you wonder where the other half goes? Some would say they ended in the trash, but The Pull looks just like someone took the wrong halves from the trash and whoa, The Pull appeared. There is too much narrative or dialogues/monologues, in wrong places and usually weakly written. I had a hard time to finish this comic because just a few pages made me asleep. So again - good idea but poorly executed with decent art which isn't helpful at all. My suggestion: avoid.
January 21, 2021
WHAT DID I JUST READ?! This book was a complete waste of my time...
March 23, 2021
If you like that point in a lot of anime where everything becomes big beams of power and people screaming at each other through contorted facial expressions while spouting quasi-science and pseudo-philosophy, then you'll love The Pull.
June 9, 2021
The Pull collects issues 1-6 of the series written by Steve Orlando with art by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz.
A powerful force is heading to Earth to wipe out all life.
This was - and I hate to say - awful. Truly awful. Maybe the worst comic I have ever read. This is an action/sci-fi manga masquerading as a comic. It is overly filled with dialogue even during huge fights scenes. Fight scenes that I have no idea what is happening because they all look like giant energy blasts. The story is some weird scifi plot that made absolutely zero sense. I know TKO has to take risks to get stories out there, but they should have shelved this one and pretended it never existed.
A powerful force is heading to Earth to wipe out all life.
This was - and I hate to say - awful. Truly awful. Maybe the worst comic I have ever read. This is an action/sci-fi manga masquerading as a comic. It is overly filled with dialogue even during huge fights scenes. Fight scenes that I have no idea what is happening because they all look like giant energy blasts. The story is some weird scifi plot that made absolutely zero sense. I know TKO has to take risks to get stories out there, but they should have shelved this one and pretended it never existed.
January 20, 2021
TKO's wave 3 was a total disaster. They released 3 titles and they were one worse than the other. I rated all three titles 1*. I wish I could rate this one a zero.
March 29, 2021
I like that this attempts to normalize pegging. The world needs more of that.
Then suddenly the book is about our children and intergeneration conflict (a favorite of mine).
From shallow to abysmal.
I just like that word play.
I'm not trying to be that harsh.
Seriously, that pegging tho.
Then suddenly the book is about our children and intergeneration conflict (a favorite of mine).
From shallow to abysmal.
I just like that word play.
I'm not trying to be that harsh.
Seriously, that pegging tho.
January 19, 2021
Orlando does a hell of a job turning in an end of the world story that manages not to depress, except for you know end of the world stuff.
Yes, this is a one and done novella. And, go read it. Yes, Brenton is a bit of a super hero, and yes he made a mistake he wants to atone for. Yes, he wants his wife back, but its complicated.
The tropes are tried and true. Orlando gives a slight spin on these while pacing the story like he literally had to finish it before the end of the world comes.
Yes, this is a one and done novella. And, go read it. Yes, Brenton is a bit of a super hero, and yes he made a mistake he wants to atone for. Yes, he wants his wife back, but its complicated.
The tropes are tried and true. Orlando gives a slight spin on these while pacing the story like he literally had to finish it before the end of the world comes.
Read
May 1, 2021I normally like Steve Orlando, but this one is a right mess. It opens days before the end of the world; humanity has been using something called Marbleite to generate Hard Heat, and it turns out that one crank scientist's warning that this would summon the Undoer are true. Except now, the scientist's daughter gets in touch with her ex, one of a band of Hard Heat-using superheroes, and if they can work together they may just be able to collect the plot tokens and save the world... And yes, it really is that straightforward, and indeed that straight – normally in an Orlando comic I'd at least expect the central couple to be same-sex. Such complexity as is on offer mainly comes from Ricardo Lopez Ortiz' art, which is enormously energetic but not always the easiest to follow; I was reminded at times of those 18th-19th century Japanese paintings of angry samurai, which look great but are maybe not the most fluid reference point in a form which also needs a modicum of storytelling. The dialogue makes up for this by going hard on the exposition, sometimes sounding like it's been translated from an original which was already pretty clunky: "So this is your last payment. With that in mind...are you sure you don't want to see Voma? She won't know who you are, but if this is it, Demm... Don't you want to see the girl whose life you ruined...then saved?" Oh, and this one can hardly be considered a fault on the creators' part, but the drug which many citizens of the doomed Earth are taking so they can fuck themselves to death before the end is called Big Finish. Which is hilarious if you chiefly associate that name with the purveyors of audio dramas to hardcore UK TV SF fans, a demographic in which I very much include myself.
February 4, 2021
4.8
This is a very meta book that explores how far empathy can be used to control characters and readers. I like to think of it along the lines of both Bioshock and The Last of Part II in that regard. I feel it's something that needs to be properly experienced.
Otherwise you can look at my interpretation on this link: https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/the-...
This is a very meta book that explores how far empathy can be used to control characters and readers. I like to think of it along the lines of both Bioshock and The Last of Part II in that regard. I feel it's something that needs to be properly experienced.
Otherwise you can look at my interpretation on this link: https://monkeysfightingrobots.co/the-...
August 1, 2021
Humanity's reckless use of resources has attracted a cosmic force that is coming to end Earth as we know it, and it's up to a super soldier and his scientist ex-girlfriend to save the future. There's some beautiful artwork with Ricardo Lopez Ortiz's boundless energy and Triona Farrell's explosive colours. Steve Orlando has some great ideas but the excessive vdialogue brought the series' action down too much to keep me consistently interested in it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2021
Very anime! Fun, if a little slight.
February 28, 2024
I'm not sure that Steve Orlando and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz set out to make the world's worst manga, but they may have succeeded. The story is incomprehensible. The art is awful. At one point the main character loses his arm and I had no idea until pages later. The art is so filled with explosions and speed lines, I couldn't tell. Just way too chaotic and fugly. The story is about the end of the world coming. Some creature called the Undoer. (Yeah, I know it's a terrible name.) It was awoken and attracted to Earth by hard heat. It's mentioned about 6 million times and I still don't know what it is. The book is filled with unnecessary and gratuitous nudity. At one point two characters have sex on a factory floor where a hundred plus people were just murdered. And these are supposed to be our "heroes". Nothing like committing mass murder and then getting off on it.
December 31, 2021
I'm not sure if this is part of a series but it stands alone more or less. I kinda like the world building. The set up of the main male character's motivation was a bit abrupt. It felt like there was a bit too much generic go-to-place, kill-goons, steal-widget action, and the arc of the two main character's relationship felt a bit predictable. Art was OK, but sometimes kind of deformed, which I get can be for effect, but to me it just felt they were trying to portray something otherworldly but didn't really know how.
January 3, 2022
The Let Down
This tale had a great premise and a vibrant cast of characters. The blend of fanaticism and morally bankrupt people was good. The problem I had with the story was the main character not really changing or growing after he commits an atrocity. It's only in the lasts seconds of life, he has a breakthrough. And sees his Ex for what she is and how she manipulated him. The best character is actually the little girl he rescued. She's not in the story that much, but she's the highlight at the end.
This tale had a great premise and a vibrant cast of characters. The blend of fanaticism and morally bankrupt people was good. The problem I had with the story was the main character not really changing or growing after he commits an atrocity. It's only in the lasts seconds of life, he has a breakthrough. And sees his Ex for what she is and how she manipulated him. The best character is actually the little girl he rescued. She's not in the story that much, but she's the highlight at the end.
August 6, 2024
I wish I was able to love this more than I did, because I adore a wild sci-fi story with deeper introspective themes. But unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into the pacing, had trouble connecting with the characters, and I felt like a lot of the sex and swearing were thrown in just to look cool and adult, feeling really out of place. Still, I can tell that this story is someone’s passion project from all the high concept visuals and deep world lore— so I give them my respect for taking a swing like this in the first place. This just personally wasn’t for me.
November 10, 2020
The story was decent but wasn’t all that cohesive and could have used some decent editing. The art was okay but characters weren’t too distinct and it didn’t take advantage of the larger format that TKO publishes. The color distracted and obscured more than it helped. In all honesty, this book would have been better served as a 6-8 volume B&W, digest-sized manga.
April 24, 2025
One of my biggest beefs with sci-fi has always been that in their quest to be original and fresh, the overly confuse the plot. This was no different. I'm still not sure what hard heat is or Gaya's true motivations.
And Brenton's self-loathing got old and annoying very fast.
And Brenton's self-loathing got old and annoying very fast.
April 7, 2021
This was okay. A bit of a mess in the middle. More exposition throughout than was necessary. The art was top shelf (very manga). I wanted to like it more, but it's not my favorite from TKO.
June 23, 2021
Good story
Good story. I wish the finale would've let us see if they were successful or not. Very good art work.
Good story. I wish the finale would've let us see if they were successful or not. Very good art work.
August 17, 2021
Fun manga-type over-the-top-ness.
February 5, 2023
Be kind to yourself, don’t read this book.
February 6, 2023
What A Mess
Don't really know what I read, it was all a mess, pretty incoherent actually. It's one of those books that drops you in and makes you feel like you've been left out.
Don't really know what I read, it was all a mess, pretty incoherent actually. It's one of those books that drops you in and makes you feel like you've been left out.
October 16, 2023
Great graphics but no story
June 22, 2021
TKO wave one was fantastic, all four were great
TKO wave two was good, two great books, one i sold on and one didnt interest me
TKO wave three is bad (so far), two i will sell on and one to read
I really dont know where to start with this. It is a mess, i must be getting old as i just did not get the story (or rather it just did not manage to engage me in any way at all) and the art, while original and good just didnt make up enough for me not knowing fully, or really caring, about what the bleep was going on!
I love that TKO attempt different genres and styles but this was not up to their previous quality releases. Let's hope the next one will at least mean there was one good release in wave three!
TKO wave two was good, two great books, one i sold on and one didnt interest me
TKO wave three is bad (so far), two i will sell on and one to read
I really dont know where to start with this. It is a mess, i must be getting old as i just did not get the story (or rather it just did not manage to engage me in any way at all) and the art, while original and good just didnt make up enough for me not knowing fully, or really caring, about what the bleep was going on!
I love that TKO attempt different genres and styles but this was not up to their previous quality releases. Let's hope the next one will at least mean there was one good release in wave three!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews